Beat the Louisiana Heat: Add This to Water for Refreshment

Approximately 76 percent of our bodies are made of water. Water is essential to our lives. You can only go about three days without water. During these blazing hot summer months we know we have to stay hydrated, but what do you do when you are completely bored with water?

Water is delicious, but if all you drink all day long is water it can become very tedious and boring. I wanted to find some beverages that can help us hydrate, but aren't so plain.

Cucumber Water

One of the easiest ideas is adding something to the water to give it some flavor, but what works to hydrate and has some flavor? If you've ever been to a spa, you've probably noticed one of the beverage options they offer is cucumber water. According to MedicalNewsToday, they say it's not a bad choice,

Cucumber water is a very hydrating drink. It has many potential health benefits, including weight loss, lowering blood pressure, helping bone health, and improving skin health.

Fruit/Fruit Juice

A friend of mine suggests adding a few grapes or a very small amount of grape juice to your water to give it a pop of flavor. Everydayhealth.com suggests adding a small amount of crushed fruit or juice to give a little life to your water. They even suggest tart fruit like cranberry or pomegranate.

If you decide on adding cranberries to your water, WebMD points out the many health benefits you'll get. Cranberries are very high in antioxidants. Cranberries also have some of the highest levels of phenols in fruit. Phenols are another great antioxidant.

Having a little bit of watermelon in your water is a great way to stay hydrated. By the way, WebMD says that since watermelon is basically 90 percent water, just by eating some watermelon you are helping to hydrate your body.

Herbs

The Baton Rouge Clinic has some great ideas of things to add to your water to jazz it up. Have you ever thought about using things in your spice cabinet to give a zing to your water? I had not, but they offer some outstanding suggestions. They recommend using:

• Rosemary
• Cilantro
• Mint Leave
• Basil
• Ginger

Rosemary

One easy water hack according to eater.com is to add a sprig of rosemary to your water bottle or carafe.

If you leave it in a carafe for about two hours that's the real sweet spot when it comes to serving others, but if you're in a hurry, just grab a sprig, put it in your bottle, and shake it up.

Eater.com recommends you not leave rosemary in your water for longer than 24 hours as the taste will become bitter.

Here are some other great ideas:

Cilantro

Another great thing to add to water to help with flavor is cilantro. Now, some people swear by cilantro and other say they can't stand it.

Azgrabaplate.com recommends cilantro as an add-in to water to give a boost to plain water.

They recommend cilantro, cucumber, and lemon together for a refreshing take on your daily water consumption.

Mint Leaf

A quick and easy water to make your water taste better is to buy some fresh mint leaves at the grocery store.

Just a small amount of mint can add a twist to an otherwise bland glass of water. If your goal is to stay hydrated, try mint.

Acoupleofcooks.com has a super easy recipe to help elevate your water. They recommend you steep it first, but you don't have to.

Basil

I wouldn't have thought to add Basil to a pitcher or glass of water, but it is recommended that you bruise or tear the leaves for the best effect.

According to theolivebranchnest.com, it's a pretty simple way to add some depth and a different flavor to your water.

It takes a couple of hours in a pitcher to get a good flavor, and if you want it to be more powerful, you can let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Ginger

Ginger in water sounds like a great idea! In addition to adding some zest to your water, there are health benefits thought to be associated with ginger.

For some easy recipes, click on Culligan's website to get the information you need.

As far as the health benefits, webmd.com explains the various health benefits that are thought to happen when you use ginger.

Seltzer

Have you ever thought of putting seltzer, or club soda in your water? It's a simple idea to use on its own, or you can add this to any of the other ideas above.

Happy hydrating!

And here are some tips for our furbabies: